28 December 2009

19 December 2009

ugh

This semester has just been soul-suckingly dumb. And it won't be over for days and days and days! [EXPLETIVE DELETED]

That's probably not a word. "Soul-suckingly." UGH DUMB DUMB DUMB.

12 December 2009

Zoo Siab Xyoo Tshiab

I'm going to Hmong New Year later today with my friend Laura. My adviser originally suggested attending so that I could get some background for my thesis. They sell different embroidered stuff, so it'll be interesting to see how the craft market fits into the overall celebration, who is buying the products, who made them (or is represented as making them), etc etc. I am totally interested in all of that, but to be completely honest, I am most excited about the food. Okay, also I will probably buy some embroidery and/or cloth, because how could I not? I'll be part of the production/consumption chain that I might end up studying, which will be... weird. Or maybe I will just look at how Hmong embroidery functions in reproducing culture in diasporic communities? Who knows, so many possibilities!

11 December 2009

חנוכה שמח

There's a strong possibility I'll be going to Laos next winter, and I'm also beginning background research to possibly write my thesis on Hmong embroidery, so I'm going to start learning Hmong. The only thing that bums me out about the idea is that Hmong uses the Roman alphabet. I want to learn a new alphabet; that would be impressive as fuck, right?

09 December 2009

I DON'T WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL TODAY

"UWM Weather Bulletin Service

This is the weather bulletin service of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
UWM morning classes are being held as scheduled.
The governor has given UWM an exception the his closing of all state campuses and offices.
Campus administration will be monitoring the weather throughout the day."

Dammit all to hell, why can't I have just one snow day?

08 December 2009

additionally:

I forgot how much I love Cat Power. Go listen to some Cat Power RIGHT NOW.

[yes, that's right, I've decided to solve this "I never update" problem by treating this like Twitter/Facebook Status Update. Fun for you!!!]

disclosure + question

I'm currently listening to "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley for the first time, thanks to Pandora. [Apparently it's similar to M.I.A.?] I wonder if I can set up a station that sounds like all of the songs that everyone else has heard but I somehow miss through not having a radio or watching commercials or however else people hear popular music.

Oh, song by Jem! I've heard of Jem! Jem kind of sucks? Yes. This is not similar to M.I.A at all.

07 December 2009

hmm

Maybe I should start a tumblr? They seem easy to update, and totally the "in thing" among the young people. Well, I actually already have a tumblr that I started when I was bored [http://marinatina.tumblr.com of course!!!]. I was going to post a photo a day; I lasted like three days. So--maybe I'm an idiot? Never mind, I don't need another blog to not update.

04 December 2009

hi hi HELLO

Wow, why am I so bad at this? I used to have to stop myself from writing more than twice a day. Oh, that's right, that's when I had a Livejournal and no friends or life. Ugh, damn friends, getting in the way of my blogging.

Well, that's not really true, I haven't seen my friends in weeks, at least my non-UWM friends. Grad school is consuming my life! Weird. I think I would be less annoyed if I were being challenged; mostly though, everything is just so damn time-consuming.

I did make time to go to Craftacular though. More on that later; I don't have photos, but I do have many things to say about the experience. It was definitely positive overall, though mostly it was a learning experience more than it was a super profitable experience.

Oh, and also, Thanksgiving happened. My mom and I made a ridiculous amount of food, and there were like 20 or 30 people at my parents' house over the course of the day. It was so, so fun; I'm a big fan of our family and friends. I have two super-adorable... second cousins? What do you call your cousins' kids? Whatever, they are adorable, and they looooove me. I already made a quilt for Noah (photo on this blog somewhere, I'm too lazy to find it right now), and now I need to make one for Jase. Who knows my name! And asks for me! And is probably the smartest, best 2 year old EVER! Holy shit, I'm glad other people are having kids, because they are so much fun to hang out with for the day.

Okay, shit, I have a 15-20 page paper to finish today, so I should get moving. More later! Must save something for tomorrow, right?